In:
Geological Magazine, Cambridge University Press (CUP), Vol. 160, No. 1 ( 2023-01), p. 146-166
Abstract:
The Ediacaran rangeomorph Fractofusus misrai is the most common and best-preserved of the E Surface fossil assemblage in the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve of southeastern Newfoundland, Canada. Fractofusus has been interpreted as a fusiform epifaunal soft-sediment recliner, and like other rangeomorphs it has a self-similar, fractal-like branching morphology. The rangeomorph branching of Fractofusus has been considered to be identical on the upper and lower surfaces; however, study of specimens with complex biostratinomic histories suggests clear differences between the upper and lower surfaces. The first-order branches grew downwards into the sediment from a high point near the midline but grew above the sediment–water interface at their lateral and distal margins. Our new three-dimensional appreciation of rangeomorph branching in Fractofusus explains many of the taphomorphs of Fractofusus including straight, curved, kinked and tousled forms. The three-dimensional morphology, mode of life, taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental interactions of F . misrai are discussed along with a new three-dimensional reconstruction.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0016-7568
,
1469-5081
DOI:
10.1017/S0016756822000723
Language:
English
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
956405-6
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1479206-0
SSG:
13
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